Betrayal
by ConstantWriter
Summary: When a Jumper takes the side of the Paladins, what will his former ally do? Story much better than terrible summary.
1. JumperPaladin?

Disclaimer: I have no ownership or rights over anything related to Jumper unless it is my original creation.

"You're not getting away, Jumper!" The Paladin exclaimed as he shot his shocker at me. I barely jumped in time, landing a few yards behind him. As he turned around I slammed my fist into his face after jumping towards him, sending him flying through the wall behind him.

"Says you," I muttered, and jumped home.

Okay, so you're probably wondering what the hell is going on. I can't offer much of an explanation, I have stuff to do, but let's put it this way: Jumpers=good guys, and Paladins=bad guys. What are Jumpers? Think of us as people who can just disappear and reappear anywhere in the world.

Cool, right? Would be paradise for us, only there are some lovely people after us called Paladins, who think that only God should have this power, and because of that thought, their aim is to kill us all. Yeah, there's more than one of us, but we'll get to them later. As for now, this is my story.

So what I call home isn't exactly, well, home. I don't have a home anymore. My dad was a great guy, a Jumper as well. He taught me how to use my powers. My mom? Well, she was pretty okay too, except for the fact that she never loved me or my dad. She was really a Paladin, and she killed my dad out of the blue when I was 13. She tried to get me, but I had gotten 8 years of Jumper training then, and I put up a good fight before I had to jump out of there.

But I wasn't exactly safe. You see, when Jumpers jump, they leave something called a "jump scar". Think of it as a rip in reality, making it look as though the air is distorted or something. If you're another Jumper, or a Paladin with the right technology, you can follow someone through their jump scar and chase them. That's exactly what my mom did, I'm sorry to say.

She had a more compact version of the machine, and she could follow me instantly, instead of having to wait for the machine to boot up.

That's how I got my scar on my side—thank one of those shockers (as I call them) slashing my side with an electric charge for that. I managed to escape, that much is obvious, or I wouldn't be here.

And now? I travel the world, never staying anywhere for more than a few months at most. I'm 15 now, and I've been taking on Paladins when I can. I've pretty much mastered my jumping, so much so that I could handle pretty much every Paladin out there, save for my mom and a few of the best.

Right now my whereabouts are in France. I don't love it here, but at least I'm safe. That's the worst of it. Because my mom is leading the hunt for me and…we'll get to the others later, if I ever run into her (and I've run into her quite a bit over the last couple of years) then I can't jump for an escape, 'cause she'll give me a chase that'll pretty much make me die of exhaustion. The only way I can get out of her (or any other of the smarter Paladin's) grasp is to knock them out or stun them or something that'll keep them occupied long enough so that when they actually are free to chase me, the jump scar is gone.

It's not as easy as it sounds, though. Some Paladins are easy to pound, but others…they're smart.

But let's move on to the others.

Yeah, there are more Jumpers around, like I said before. I have a few friends who can jump, but some…they're dead, and others are long gone. I only have two people I stay with that are Jumpers too.

First, there's April. She was a mild friend at school until she saw me jump, and confessed that she could too. Now she and I work together full-time, fleeing and fighting together. She's a big help, and pretty smart too.

Then there's Davis. He's more of an ally than a friend, seeing as how he's tried to kill me a few times. Stable isn't the best word to describe Davis, if you know what I mean. If you don't, let me put it this way: he's borderline psycho. That makes him a good ally for fighting, but you can't count on him to get you out of a jam. It's only thanks to April that we haven't torn each other to pieces by now, another thing I have to be grateful to her for.

Oh, my name? It's Robertsen Shadow, the weirdest name on the planet. Some people call me Rob. Others call me Robbie. April and Davis call me Shadow, which I don't mind though I dislike it a bit.

So that's pretty much summed up my situation right now, though I have much more to say. I really hope that soon things will start to look up. I really do.

"Shadow, are you okay? Why didn't you tell me that you were gonna take on a Paladin? How'd you do?" That was April, barraging me with questions.

"I'm okay, I didn't tell you because it was one Paladin and I could handle it, and I kicked his ass." I answered all three questions, grinning.

April walked up to me, and got so close I expected a kiss or hug (neither of which I would've minded), but instead I got a punch in the stomach.

"Next time, tell me if you're gonna take on a Paladin!" She said as I started to regain my composure. She could sure pack a punch, I had to admit.

I nodded, still lacking breath, and walked to my neighboring room. We had been staying in a hotel, with funds from my and her life savings. They were running out quickly, and we were getting nervous. Neither of us wanted to steal because we could, but if we had to…

"I'm bored." April stated simply.

"That's nice."

"Why don't' we go visit Davis?"

"Why should we visit that psycho?"

"Because he's a good ally, and he's cute."

"Am I supposed to care?" I didn't mean to sound rude, but that last comment had dampened my cheerful mood.

"No, but we still should go."

"Then go!" I snapped, "And make sure you say hi for me!"

Looking hurt, April jumped, and I, feeling guilty, followed her by her jump scar.

I had expected to land inside Davis's temporary home, wherever that may be (he always told April, but never me), but instead I ended up running off the top of the Empire State Building.

Instead of reacting as a normal person would by screaming at the top of my lungs, I calmly jumped to the top, where April was sitting, a hurt look still on her face.

"Look, April…I'm sorry. I just don't like it when you go all moony over Davis, but it's not my choice."

She looked at me for a moment, thoughtful, then hugged me. "It's okay," she relented, looking at me with a smile.

I nodded, my face slightly red, and jumped back to the hotel room.

It was there that my day went completely wrong.

I jumped into my room, walked to the kitchen, got a drink of water, and turned around to see Davis standing there. "Uh…hi." That's all I could get out, I was so surprised.

"Hello, Shadow." He said in an unnervingly sneering tone of voice. "You need to come with me…now."

"Why?" I asked, feeling hesitant.

"Just do it, and you'll see." And with that, he jumped. I curiously was about to follow his jump scar when April jumped to the living room. I quickly explained the situation to her, with her listening intently.

After I finished, she said, "I'll go with you."

"No," I said, "This might be a trap."

"If it is, then I'm going to be trapped too. Better we work together than I stay here, worrying my head off. Now hurry up, the jump scar is closing!"

Before I could argue, April pushed me into the jump scar, and I half-willingly jumped.

At first, all I saw was blackness. "Hello?" I tentatively called out.

"Hello, Jumper!" A voice shouted, and I heard the familiar whoosh of a shocker.

I jumped just in time, reappearing right in front of April as she was about to jump into the jump scar.

"Come with me!" I shouted, grabbed her arm, and jumped.

We reappeared somewhere in Colorado, where we found out later on was Aurora.

"What the f—" April started, but I covered her mouth. It was completely silent here, seeing as how we were on the side of the street and it was the middle of the night. "Shhh!" I said nervously, and gestured for her to come with me. She nodded, and we started running. We had gotten down the street and around a corner before we felt what felt like a miniature explosion and heard a voice say, "There's no jump scars…they have to be close!"

I froze in an uncomfortable combination of rage and fear as I realized that the voice I heard belonged to none other than my dear old mom.

"I'll handle this," I said in a voice of deadly quietness, so much so that even April just nodded again and jumped somewhere.

I watched the street corner, waiting for a Paladin that was accompanying my mom to appear…and he finally did. The look on his face as he saw me shift-jump (what I call it when you jump a few feet, then more, and more and more to gain momentum) was priceless. So was the feeling I got when the punch to the stomach I gave him sent him flying through a couple of walls.

I pumped my fists in the air. Bad move, to say the least. As I turned to face my old lady, I got a face-full of jump-enhanced fist. This time it was _me _who was sent flying through a couple of walls. After I had landed and managed to stagger up, one thought came into my head: _who?_

I got my question answered as I saw Davis grinning at me. "You're quick, I'll give you that," He said, chuckling, "But you're not quick enough."

Now only one word came out of my mouth: "Why?"

This was met with a snort. "Why the hell do you think I would backstab a friend? They'll stop harassing me, stop trying to kill me. As long as I work for them, I'm safe from them, and that's worth more than anything you can give me."

"So, what now?" I asked him, still trying to stand without support.

"Now, I'm supposed to kill you, but because we're former allies, I'll be nice. I'll give you 30 seconds to run, to flee from me like a coward. At least you'll be safe, though. Oh, and as for April, don't worry. Your mom and I switched places so she wouldn't hesitate to kill; she's taking care of your little girlfriend now."

This brought forth fury unlike any I had ever experienced. I stood up straight without any effort, and leaped at Davis. He dodged my non-existent punch, for I had jumped behind him and had him in a chokehold.

Following instinct, Davis jumped several times around the block, but because I was touching him (I had a death grip on him) I jumped with him. Soon, Davis was lacking enough air so that he stopped trying to jump, and desperately clawed at my arms, but I wouldn't budge.

"No…stop…" he gasped out, starting to turn blue. My rage was still present, but it was starting to subside, and I got a grip on myself. What was I doing? Would I really kill another person, let alone a Jumper, merely to appease my own anger? I had to make a decision, now…

I released Davis. He fell to the ground, coughing and gasping for air. I gave him a kick in the stomach, and was rewarded with a groan from him. "Next time, I won't be so kind." I said, and started walking towards the jump scar where April had jumped from.

I appeared at the base of Mount Everest, shivering and looking around. April was nowhere to be found, and neither was my mom. I think now is a good time to say that her name is Lisa Herring…she kept her last name, and I kept my dad's last name.

Anyways, I looked around for a grand total of two seconds before I saw them; April and Lisa jumping around from one spot to the other. "April!" I shouted, and she looked around until she saw me. The distraction was enough for Lisa to deck April across the jaw, sending her flying off of the mountain. I jumped, caught April, and brought her back to the ground.

"I have to say, your mom has a nice right hook." April said, rubbing her jaw.

"Unfortunately, I know that already from experience." I said bitterly. "But let's get outta here."

April was the one who jumped us this time, but to where? Well, wherever it is, the fact that I'm safe and sound with her makes it alright.

A/N: What's up, my readers? Hopefully you liked it enough to read and review it. Seriously, review. _Now. _No, I'm just kidding. But know that this is the first of quite a few to come…(laughs evilly) and there will be cliffhangers galore! But…please review! I'm begging you! Ahem, now that I've regained my composure, some side notes…

1. The term "shift-jumping" was only original as far as I know, and if someone who has an affiliation to the Jumper books for movie has taken the term already, then I don't own it. And to explain it a bit more, if you've seen the movie Jumper (which you should have if you're reading this) then you'll know what I mean by the part when Griffin "shift-jumps" and sends his fist into Samuel L. Jackson, I mean, Roland's face, causing him to fly through a wall.

2. I am going to keep it in first-person point of view, though if I do shift it I will give a heads-up.

3. Lastly, I will be giving responses to reviews, so…review!

Happy Hunting (or Picking if you're a vegetarian),

ConstantWriter


	2. Jumping Around

Disclaimer: I have no ownership or rights over anything related to Jumper unless it is my original creation.

A/N: Much more action in this one, and look forward to more cliffhangers!

--

We landed somewhere unfamiliar to me, but it was warm, I can say that much. "Where are we?" I asked, still nervous, but in a second we were somewhere else, and somewhere else. It went like that for several minutes, until finally April stopped jumping us back at our hotel room.

"What was that for?" I asked, as April rushed around, collecting items we needed to pack. I would've joined, but I was kinda woozy from all that jumping, and needed a moment.

"Firstly, if Davis somehow gets to your mom, it'll buy us some time, since he has to jump from jump scar to jump scar, and for your mom, her machine may work instantly, but it comes at a cost—it runs out of power quicker, meaning she'll be stuck in the middle of some random place without any means of escape. There, you got an explanation, so help me pack."

I stood there for a second, letting that sink in. I then walked up to April and gave her a big hug. "You're a genius!" I exclaimed after letting go of her.

"I know."

"And so modest!"

"Just help me pack, seeing as how we likely have a Jumper and a lot of Paladins on our tail."

I jumped to my room (time _was_ of the essence) and started throwing what little things I took out of my suitcase back into it. Within minutes, April and I were ready to go, all packed and panicky.

We quickly agreed that we should steal whatever we could from Davis's old hideouts, seeing as how he had quite a few nifty gadgets perfect for taking care of Paladins. April told me the location of every single one of his hideouts, all 15 of 'em. We agreed that while sticking together was safer, we had to split up for the sake of time.

She jumped to his hideout in Southern Africa while I looked at a picture I had of South America that was closest to his hideout, only a few miles away, luckily, and jumped there.

It took a good 30 minutes of me sprinting almost non-stop to get there, and when I did I was amazed.

The hideout was perfectly clean; it something that surprised me, but then again, Davis was a psycho, so I shouldn't have been caught off guard. The other thing that surprised me was that there wasn't a thing there. The place had been cleaned out when it came to weaponry and other anti-Paladin items.

I growled in anger and realized that either Davis must've jumped to every hideout he had after our little battle and took the stuff, or (more likely) he had this set up with the Paladins way before we knew about it.

Frustration building on me, I jumped to where April told me she would be—she had a picture—and it was to my shock that I saw Davis there, looking like he wanted a good fight.

"Surprise, surprise. I assume you're here to find April? Or maybe some more anti-Paladin items? Good luck, I'll say. I only have one hideout left that has any stuff in it, and trust me, I'm not stupid enough to jump there now. I'll clean it out later.

"As for April, I actually have no clue about her. Seems she went to go check the other areas, but I'll have you taken care of before she gets to that particular spot."

I retorted, "You think that you have a shot against me? Don't you remember last time? It seems to me that I beat you, and pretty easily, I might add."

"Beginner's luck, that was." He said, stiffening a bit. "But we'll see this time."

And with that, he jumped.

Not wanting to be a victim of my own tactics, I jumped a few feet ahead of me, only to see a glimpse of Davis before he disappeared somewhere. I looked around, wary, and had just enough time to literally jump out of the way of a suddenly appearing motorcycle speeding towards me. In mid-air, both the cycle, the screaming biker, Davis and I all disappeared, they heading to some unknown location, me jumping to the Atlantic Ocean.

I immediately jumped back, and it was rather sloppy, I have to admit, but I _was _getting hit by huge waves. Water came splashing everywhere, but it was rather comical to see that Davis was predictable enough to have followed my jump scar and he returned to where our fight began with a wave of water and him sopping wet.

"Real funny, Shadow! But this isn't a joke, as I'll prove!" He disappeared off to another location, and this time I wasn't fast enough to fully dodge the Paladins he brought with him, including my mother.

One of their shockers nicked my arm, sending a few volts too. It didn't exactly tickle, not to mention that I couldn't jump anywhere for a few seconds. I backed away in pain as my mom and her comrade walked towards me, deadly looks on their faces. Davis was trying to dry himself off in vain, and finally gave up.

But then…what was that look I saw on my mom's face? Sympathy? Sorrow? It was soon replaced with a look of vicious satisfaction as she raised her shocker…

And for once, I was glad when Davis jumped right behind me and got me in a chokehold. Sure, I couldn't breathe, but my mom held her fire, as did the other Paladin. And I was smart enough to know what to do in a situation like this.

I jumped back to the Atlantic, and the swells there caught Davis off-guard. He held on, but the waves knocking us around like a couple of pinballs finally got to him. He released his grip, and I jumped to his old hideout.

After coughing and getting some air back into me, I gave myself a mental pat on the back. I think I had a right to, seeing as how my jump scar was somewhere in the middle of the ocean, and it would very likely close before Davis could find it.

"Now to find April." I muttered to myself, and jumped to all the previous hideouts that I had been so graciously allowed to visit.

What pleased me the most was that I found a jump scar as soon as I jumped, meaning that April had to have been here. I followed it, found the hideout empty, and took the other jump scar.

It went like this for a good 6 hideouts, until I finally found April. She was about to jump too, except I shouted, "Wait!" and, well, she waited.

"Rob! I've been looking for you! The first jump site I tried, Davis was there, and I jumped outta there right away. I don't think he followed me—"

"No, he didn't. How do I know? I just tangled with him, something I'll explain later, as well as why I'm soaked." I cut her off. "And I also learned that there's only one jump site left that has Davis's stuff in it, he told me so himself. I don't know if he's lying, but since he's, you know, Davis, I think he'd be telling the truth."

She looked at me in shock, which I was curious about until I felt a stinging on my arm. My "nick" from the shocker was worse than I thought, and it was bleeding. The water that had gotten into the cut didn't help much. I actually cringed when I saw it, and after realizing how much blood I had lost, began to feel a bit lightheaded.

"Whoa," I said, looking around; the room was spinning. "I, uh, I need to…you know, to, uh…lie down." And with those final and cleverly said words, I fell down, unconscious.

It was a while before I woke up, and when I did the first thing I saw was April's face, looking a mixture of scared and worried.

"You lost a lot of blood, Shadow." She said, looking at my arm, now bandaged.

"Well, I'm fine now." I said, standing up. I immediately saw the room spinning, and April firmly pulled me down. "You're staying here, at this hideout." She said with an air of finality that even I wouldn't argue with.

"Just…don't get hurt." I said rather meekly.

She smiled. "Aww, he cares about me."

"No, but who'll do everything for me if you're dead?"

"Hilarious, Rob, really." She gave me a lovely smack on the back of the head on jumped to another hideout. I expected her to be gone for around an hour, but I was surprised when she came back after only a few seconds, holding a load of very deadly-looking weapons.

"I found it!" She said breathlessly, "But there's more, so hold on!"

And for a good 20 minutes she jumped back and forth, getting more and more until there was a pile around my height (a good 5 feet, 11 inches). April finally stopped and said, "Well, now that _we_ have the advantage, it's time to sort out this stuff and kick some Paladin ass."

I gave a cheer, and sat up into a sitting position on the floor (Davis didn't have any beds, which makes him all the more insane) and started sorting out the stuff. It was amazing what he had a stock of. There were shock grenades, shockers, or rather, shock guns, even shock mines. They were all stolen from the Paladins, and they had been modified so they gave shocks that hurt the former users as much as they hurt the Jumpers. I had to hand it to Davis, he was smart for a lunatic.

Next came the good stuff, the original creations from Davis himself. As these were made in his Paladin-hating days, I was surprised that he kept them, but pleased all the same. There were some stolen items, like guns, knives, blunt objects from bats to hammers, and a boatload of money, but the Davis-made stuff was better than we had hoped. He made his own version of the Jumper-imitator (he had stolen both a big and compact one of them), and they worked _way _better. Since he had made a total of 3 compact ones, this meant that we could have some help along the way, even from non-Jumpers.

There were also some bigger ones, but we were still deciding what to do with them, seeing as how we couldn't carry them around. But that wasn't all he had made. One invention had a note attached to it—the invention was one of many of the same—that said, "Note to self: Use on imitation-Jumpers for Paladins…imitation-Jumper neutralizer."

I almost fainted with joy (or maybe it was the blood loss). Now I wouldn't have to deal with the constant harassing of my mom. If she gave me a chase, I'd give her a taste of the imitator-short-circuter. Terrible name, but I couldn't think of anything else at the time, and even now we just call it the ISC.

After sifting through the rest of the stuff, we congratulated ourselves, then decided to get somewhere where we wouldn't be likely caught, and I could rest up. It took a while, and a bit of arguing, but we decided that our old place would be safest, because while it was the stupidest decision, no one would think to look for us there. Kind of that whole reverse psychology, something I thought pretty smart.

At least, I thought it was pretty smart until we jumped there and saw that the place was teeming with Paladins. Luckily, we had jumped into my room in case something like this happened, but it still caught us off-guard. I had to clamp my hand over April's mouth to keep her from gasping, and I barely caught my own exclamation of shock.

Unfortunately, my door chose to creak when we opened it, and we were kinda busy keeping our backs to the rest of the apartment, wary of anyone following our jump scars and coming to the room.

We caught the attention of a good 8 Paladins, all of which were happy to see us (in the "now I get to murder you" sense), and they all shot their shockers at us. I was holding onto April since I was still weak and needed support to stand, so when I jumped I unwittingly took her with me.

We appeared at the first place that came to my mind, which was my old room in my old house.

To add to our bad luck, there was a teenage girl, about our age, in the room that we jumped to, but instead of screaming like the sky had just fallen, she looked up from the book she was reading on her bed and said, "As long as you leave the way you got here, I won't say a thing."

We were really surprised by this, but grateful. "Done," Was all April said before whispering to me, "Where do we go?"

"I don't know, but my knees are about to buckle. Choose somewhere that we'll be safe, anywhere!"

The girl interrupted, "My name is Amanda, Mandy for short. I know you don't really care, but the fact that you're whispering has gotten me curious, so I thought I'd tell you. You guys really need to leave before anyone who can do that teleport thing like you follows you here."

We looked at her for a moment, then continued our conversation.

"We need to go somewhere where we can blend in." April whispered, thinking.

"Can you just pick a damn spot?" I didn't mean to be testy, but it was kinda difficult when I could barely stand.

"Will you two just leave already?" Amanda said, throwing her book at us just as we jumped. We took her book with us, me making a mental note to return it when we had the chance.

I had no freakin' clue where we were, and I was about to pass out. April gasped, and I looked up to see a few Paladins racing towards us. They raised their shockers and fired, just as I lost consciousness.

--

A/N: Yay, one review! Hey, it's better than none, aye?

teenvid201: Thanks, the compliments are appreciated. Hope you enjoy the action in this one too.

Hope you all like this, and hope those of you who read this actually review.

You All Rock,

ConstantWriter


	3. All's Fair In Love and War

Disclaimer: I have no ownership or rights over anything related to Jumper unless it is my original creation.

A/N: This chapter will be hopefully good, but I am tired, so I apologize if it is of lesser quality.

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Again and again, I felt the familiar sensation of being jumped, and the thought weakly came through my mind that maybe I was doing this.

But why would I be jumping, and how could I be if I didn't want to?

I opened my eyes to see scenery flying by like a super-fast slideshow. I was amazed that anyone could jump so quickly, and I realized that I wasn't supporting my weight, even my own—someone was carrying me.

It took some time, but the memories finally came back, and they weren't pretty. All I got to was when the shockers were fired by the Paladins…and I gasped.

"Shadow, you son of a bitch! Why'd you have to get so deeply cut, you idiot? I swear, the next time you let a Paladin let their weapon hit you so badly, I'm going to personally squeeze the cut so it'll bleed even more!"

Normally, I would've felt hurt and resentful, but I wasn't because I could tell from April's tone of voice that she was more afraid than anything. I didn't blame her; who wants their best friend to die?

"I'm…okay." I coughed, trying to stand up but unable to because of our jump rate. At the least, I stopped using April as a support—I was strong enough to stand on my own—but held her hand while we jumped. I noticed her taking that in, that I chose to hold her hand, and I blushed a bit.

Yeah, I had a crush on her, but firstly, that didn't mean that she had to know, and secondly, we were kinda running from Paladins, trying not to die. The situation was unusual, and now was not the time for any mushiness.

After a bit she slowed down on the hyper-jumping (as I will call it when anyone jumps at that speed to that many places), and soon she stopped at the hideout containing all of Davis's items. Speaking of which, the pile looked different…rearranged. But I put it into the back of my mind as April threw me onto the ground and started looking for something unknown to me.

"Uh…what are you looking for?" I asked simply.

"The first-aid kit, stupid."

"Why the first-aid?"

"Look at your arm, genius."

And sure enough, when I pulled my shirt sleeve up, I saw that my bandage was soaked in red. I carefully removed it, and to my surprise, the cut was fully healed. "What the…?"

"What?"

"Look at my arm!"

She did, and let out an exclamation of surprise equal to my mental shriek. "How the hell did that happen?"

I shrugged, noting how there was no pain to accompany it. "Beats me, but I'm happy…now I can kick the crap outta Davis. This will be fun."

She looked at me for a second as though I was crazy, and then said, "Shadow…I oughta punch you in the face right now."

"Why?" I asked, indignant.

"It was thanks to Davis outsmarting you that you got…_that _done to you in the first place. You want it to happen again?"

"Hey," I said angrily, "Davis may be able to get Paladins to, but now I know. He's running out of tricks, and soon I'll have him figured him out. When it comes to a guy like him, Davis is only as good as his next ace up the sleeve."

April shot back, "But who knows how many aces he has, huh? For all you know he could have a boatload of tricks waiting for you, and you won't have a clue!"

She was getting on my nerves, I had to admit. Couldn't she just let me take on Davis and my mom?

"Why are you getting on my case, anyways? I have to fight Davis, one way or another, or he'll never stop following us!"

"Because you're gonna get yourself killed!"

"Look," I shouted, "This is my choice, and I'm going to kill Davis, whether you want me to or not!"

And she slapped me.

Yeah, I was stunned too.

"Don't you _ever _say anything like that again, Robert. You will never be the kind of person who will kill anyone in his life, never. You are too kind and good and…and _caring _to actually take a life. And if you try to kill anyone, I'll pay the favor back to you for them, mark my words."

I wasn't sure whether those words hurt or not, but they certainly didn't feel good. There was nothing for me to say, only what I could do, so I did what I felt I should: I walked up to April and kissed her.

That thought doesn't make me feel like a genius when I think of it, but at least I did the right thing…I think. As for why, well…I mean, the fact that April would go to such lengths to make sure that I'm not a bad person, I really feel grateful to her for that.

The kiss lasted around 10 seconds, or maybe 5, or maybe 50 (I wasn't timing, okay?). But all I do know is that when it ended, things would never be the same.

"Thanks." That was what I said before I jumped to where I would get a good fight: the hotel room.

When I arrived, I had the advantage of surprise, don't worry.

There were still 8 Paladins there, and as soon as I jumped, they did what I hoped they would do; they panicked.

They all took out their shockers and fired recklessly. I jumped into the kitchen, and about 3 of the weapons flew into other Paladins. Now, these guys were smart, so they made it that the nets (that was what these ones shot) wouldn't hurt the Paladins, but they were still tangled up.

With the other 5 to take care of, I shift-jumped one with my shoulder in a sort of super tackle, aiming it so he crashed into another one and they flew out of the window.

The other three shot their weapons, and I did a sort of jump-flip move and I ended up landing my head on my bed.

Unfortunately, the two who had gotten tangled with the nets in the first place had gotten free, and they decided to take out the more lethal weapons—think of them as spearhead guns, except they were made especially for Jumpers. That was the weapon that gave me my scar, and that caused me to be so weak. I was going to have fun returning the favor to these guys.

One shot his, and it missed…in a sense. I jumped before it hit, but in mid-jump I felt a huge shock of pain and reappeared halfway to the destination I had intended to be—the kitchen, meaning I was stuck in the living room with 6 pissed off Paladins, and myself, a Jumper who was in a lot of pain and couldn't jump.

"Didn't know about that, did ya, punk?" One Paladin sneered at me, laughing. "Whenever we shoot our weapons, it releases a shock that stops Jumpers from jumping halfway through, and better yet, they can't jump for a minute afterwards!"

They all laughed, raising their weapons. My jump attempts were failing, and they pulled the triggers…

What felt like a miniature explosion knocked everyone off of their feet, including me. After I got my senses back in order, I looked up to see April standing there with a Davis-made jump-imitator.

What really got me was that I saw that she had a spear-head sticking out of her leg, and she was on the verge of collapsing. "Ah…" I couldn't say a damn thing, and it was only when she fell to the ground that I took action.

I grabbed her arm and tried to jump, was got a huge jolt of pain as my reward. Apparently I couldn't jump if April couldn't and I was making physical contact with her.

But the growing stain of red on her leg gave me the willpower to try again and again, each time with more force until I got it done, though when I got to the hideout it was done with the sloppiness of a first time jumper.

I was half-panicking, and I was clumsy in getting the first-aid kit and cleaning her lesser wounds. Now came the difficult part. I had to get the spearhead out, clean and stitch the wound (I was guessing this) and take care of the worse wounds I found on her back and stomach.

Even when I was stitching up the damage (I had successfully taken out the spearhead), I couldn't help but admire how April had to have reacted. If she had just stood there for that second or so that she was there, then the spearheads would've pierced her all over. But she managed to only get one in her…I was amazed.

I can't lie, I was blushing like crazy when I removed April's shirt to take care of the worse wounds on her back and stomach. For her legs, I was able to cut the pants off until the wound, just above the knee, but here…well, I was glad she had a bra on (she would've killed me if for some reason she didn't have one and I saw…yeah).

After taking care of every wound, I was exhausted. As soon as I dropped the stitches and bandages, I dropped on the floor next to her, asleep already.

"YOU…PERV…I…CANNOT…BELIEVE YOU!"

I awoke to find April kicking me in every spot possible, accentuating every word with a particularly sharp hit. I rolled around, trying to give myself cover, until I gave up and jumped a few yards away.

I hopped up and dodged a punch from April, still the way I left her when I fell asleep, in her bra and wearing new shorts.

"What are you talking about?" I said, trying in vain not to get hurt too badly.

"I'm talking about the fact that I woke up with you next to me, me without a shirt on and my pants cut off 'till the knees! What did you do?!"

"NO! You wouldn't…me…what? I mean…just let me explain!"

She finally stopped attacking me and ran over to put on her shirt, while I told her everything that happened. It took a bit, especially when I became a bumbling idiot while telling her about cleaning her stomach and back cuts, but soon I got it all out.

By that time I was severely sore, and had to sit down. April was still glaring at me, until she said, "Are you sure you didn't do anything?" as though I wouldn't remember if I did.

I shook my head in exasperation and looked at the ground. How could she think I would do something so…low? Especially while she nearly gave her life for me? I was furious, truly, at the fact that she would even consider such a thing, let alone believe it.

Finally I saw her walk next to me and sit down. "I'm…sorry." She said, looking away. "I assumed—"

"Yeah, you did!" I snarled. "Thanks for being a good friend, for trusting me not to take advantage of you like that, which I would never do! I'm not that kinda person April, someone who would do that when the person didn't know or didn't want to, and yet you _still _believed it. Thanks, April, for being such a good friend."

And, furiously, I jumped.

--

A/N: Drama, drama. More than I intended, anyways, but I'm very tired as I write this. If it seems too feeling-ish for you, then sorry, but this stuff needs to get cleared so I can get straight to the action later without any emotional interruption.

Best Regards,

ConstantWriter


	4. Learning an Unwitting Lesson

Disclaimer: I have no ownership or rights over anything related to Jumper unless it is my original creation.

--

Let me say this before anything else: jumping out of emotion is a bad idea. I mean, like, _bad. _You can end up anywhere, whether it's inside a tree or at the bottom of the ocean, in a place where you'll die so quickly that even if at a thought you'd escape, you'll still die.

At least, that's what I logically assume.

In my defense, I just experienced a "feeling-jump" and it wasn't pretty. Where did I land? I have no damn clue, only that it was somewhere hot, unpleasant, with a reddish tinge to it too. And it made me angry just to be there.

Honestly, I fear it may have been Hell, but then I think that I'm going crazy. Whatever. Going back to what happened…

Out of fear I jumped to the first place that came to mind—my old home…again. Yeah, I know, so don't say anything.

Once again, when I arrived, I heard no scream, merely, "Did you bring my book back?" I looked to see Amanda-Mandy-for-short standing there, looking at me expectantly.

"Er…no, and I'm sorry." Though with my mixture of fear and anger, I wasn't really sorry.

"It's okay," She said, and it was for the first time that I actually took her in, in all aspects, too—physically, mentally, emotionally, I took her in as much as possible.

She was fit and attractive, I'll say that much. She had dark brown hair, like my eyes, and was rather pale. It was hard to define what group she belonged to, as she was merely wearing light blue jeans and a long-sleeved pink and black shirt. Aside from that, there wasn't much to say about her. I just didn't know her that well yet.

What was also obvious was that she was smart, too. Not many other people would be so calm when a person suddenly appeared in their room. She handled the situation like a pro, something I noted—and liked.

Amanda noticed me analyzing her and said, "Look, if you like me, then just say it, alright? I hate the whole cat-and-mouse thing that goes on half the time."

"No! It's not that, don't worry—"

"I wasn't worrying, because you're cute."

I slapped my hand to my forehead. "Just listen, okay? Firstly, I don't like you; I was just taking in your features. Secondly, I'm in a relationship…I think."

"You think? How can you think you're in a relationship?"

I was really getting annoyed here. "Why am I telling you all of this anyways? You're not important in my life, you're just some random girl."

I turned around and was about to jump when I felt Amanda tackle me out of nowhere, sending us both jumping to where I hoped April was.

When we landed, it was sort of like Twister; we were a jumble of arms and legs, and it wasn't comfortable.

With the way we were trying to get out of each other's grasp, it's no surprise that April thought that I was being attacked. It was no surprise that she jumped next to us and started attacking Amanda (who I will now call Mandy). It was no surprise that I tried to help out. It _was _a surprise, however, when April attacked me after I tried to stop her from hitting Mandy. She punched me in the face, jumping us all when she did so.

Where did we land? Well, I was kinda busy reeling in pain, but aside from that, I could easily take in the surroundings.

Actually, we landed in Thailand, though I jumped us to Washington, D.C. before anything happened or anyone saw us.

Finally, I was able to get untangled from Mandy, and April was able to keep herself from ripping her (Mandy) and me apart on a more literal and gory scale.

"Who is _she_?" April sneered, glaring at Mandy, who returned the look with an equal amount of loathing. This was not how I expected the two to meet. Then again, I also didn't expect April to ever even see Mandy again, but when she tackled me, things kinda got outta hand.

"Um…April, Mandy, Mandy, April."

They both gave each other looks of disdain before looking at me again, which was my cue to say, "Well, look at the time, I better jump to bed, huh?" right before proceeding to prepare to jump before faltering under both the girls' gazes. "Oh, right…have a good night!"

But a thought popped into my head, and I mentally cursed myself before asking (out of a need to), "Mandy, er, Amanda, why did you tackle me in the first place?"

April looked alarmed at the mention of tackling, but Mandy stated coolly, "You shouldn't have said what you said, seeing as how I am now obviously going to be a very important part of your life…lives." She corrected herself, noticing April's glare.

"And what did you say?" April asked me with more than a hint of hostility.

"Nothing important," I replied nervously, "But now I really do have to jump, and before you ask where, know that—" And I jumped before anything else could be said.

"Oh, hell no!" I heard Davis exclaim, annoyed. This caused me to grin, for I was eager for a fight.

He was just where I had suspected he would be; in the Atlantic Ocean, on a boat, looking for my jump scar. He had just jumped back onto the boat, sopping wet, and when he saw me, made his rude remark.

"Look, loser," He said, changing his shirt into a dry one while talking, "I'm not in the mood for a fight, and I was only trying to track you because I had to. No, I'm not on your side either, but this is all becoming a big chore. The only reason I did it so eagerly before was because of the fights, but I'm tired of 'em right now. Can't we do this some other time?"

The look on my face was enough of an answer for him. "Fine, but can I at least change my clothes into dry ones?" I nodded, and Davis went below the deck.

Many thoughts passed through my mind, including the possibility that Davis had either jumped away or temporarily left to get some sort of weapon, but I couldn't be sure. It was all up to chance now…

I heard footsteps, and Davis reappeared in a different ensemble. He sighed and said, "Let me kick your ass quickly, okay? I was planning to take a nap after a few more tries, but this got in the way."

"We'll see." I smirked, getting into a fighting stance.

We circled each other for a few seconds, and then leaped at each other; however, neither of us collided, as we both jumped expectedly.

Where Davis was headed, I have no clue, but I landed on the freeway of my hometown, which will be unnamed for the purpose of protecting those who are close to me who still live there.

The first car I saw, I leaped onto it and jumped.

Apparently, the same was true for Davis, as he came with a car too—this one much bigger and scarier looking than mine.

In the blink of an eye, I made a split-second realization and decision; the realization was that I still had the driver in the car, and the decision was to keep him or her safe and jump outta there.

And that's exactly what I did.

We landed back at the freeway, just where we left off, and I released the car before jumping back.

I heard a splash, and turned around to see the car sinking underwater, with Davis on top of it. He looked like was considering saving the driver, then thought better of it and jumped back to the boat to resume the fight.

But by then I had jumped onto the back of the car that was now rapidly lowering into the depths of the ocean, gotten a look inside and jumped in. The driver was a woman, looking in her late 40's, but that's all I got out of her. I was kinda busy trying to jump the car without taking a huge amount of water with me. Hey, I wanted her to think that maybe she was hallucinating.

It took some effort, but I finally managed to jump us to the freeway without too much water being brought along.

"Um…I would say this never happened, but you'll probably never see me again, so it doesn't matter. Have a good one." And I jumped back.

--

A/N: Sorry for the wait, I've been busy with school, friends, a girlfriend, and parents, not to mention homework.

Also, I know it's short, and not much happens, but…writer's block, I guess. Hey, ideas submitted would be good, I'll make sure to mold them into my own and give due credit. Leave it in a review or message, whatever.

Don't Get Too Bored Of My Stories,

ConstantWriter

Side note: I forgot, I'll be sure to pack at least one up the upcoming three chapters with action, though it's harder than you'd think.


	5. A Certain Jumper Arrives

Disclaimer: I have no ownership or rights over anything related to Jumper unless it is my original creation.

A/N: After doing some thinking, I realized that while this is a site where originality is supported, I have to relate to the story of Jumper. Sure, I included the whole concept, but I wanted to bring people into it. My readers, say hello to Griffin.

--

Well, I learned about _another_ new thing not to do today, though this one you have no control over.

I learned not to cross paths with another Jumper while, well, jumping. This one was rather painful, and…well, let me just tell you.

As I jumped back to the fight, something went…wrong. It was as though things were moving slowly, and then…

WHAM! Pain exploded in my head, and I flew into the water. Wait…water? I had made my jump point Davis's boat, why had I landed in water?

My question was answered as I jumped back to the boat, where Davis was mysteriously absent. However, someone else was there.

Ragged was the best way to describe him. He was wearing a black leather jacket and blue jeans, though both were torn up pretty badly. There was blood on the guy's face and arms, which kinda worried me, though as my pain was still fading from my body, I didn't give it too much thought. I guess I could say he was good-looking, though as I don't examine guys ever, I don't have much of an opinion.

"Who are you?" I demanded, "And what happened?"

"You fucking moron!" He shouted at me, and then started angrily muttering to himself. "Why does this happen _twice_, of all times, to _me_?"

I looked at him with a mixture of bewilderment for his insult and curiosity for his personal remark. "Why does what happen twice to you, of all times?"

He seemed to ignore me for a second, then looked witheringly at me and said, "You were talking to me? Hmm, like you deserve it. What happened to me for the second time in a row, was when I jumped at the exact same time to the exact same location as some other damn Jumper!"

My eyes widened. "What are the chances of that happening?"

"I don't know!" He snapped, but then took on a more thoughtful look. "Ha, I guess this makes me even more famous."

"Who…who are you?" I asked, starting to get an awed hunch.

"The name's Griffin."

I gasped, and took a step back, almost falling over the railing. I was talking to Griffin…_the _Griffin, the guy who'd taken out more than 60 Paladins, the guy who every Jumper hoped to be like, the ultimate in badass.

"You're…you're…you're Griffin?"

"No shit, Sherlock."

After I had regained a tad of my composure, I was able to notice that he was…well, a complete ass along with a badass. Really, the guy looked as cruel as he was; then again, Griffin was never rumored to be a kind spirit, but I had just kinda assumed…

"Wait a minute!" I said, looking at him, alarmed, "What are you doing on the boat! You're not…friends with Davis, are you?"

Griffin looked at me with more interest now, and said in a dangerously curious voice, "His name's Davis, is it? May I ask how you know this information?"

It didn't take a genius to figure out that either Griffin would beat me to a pulp to get information on Davis or he would assume I was still on the side of Davis and beat the crap outta me anyways. Neither sounded good, so I hastily explained.

"I'm not friends with him, if that's what you're thinking. He and I used to be friends, until he backstabbed me and April and joined the Paladins. He's a—"

"Jumper? I know." Griffin said in a rather sneering tone, and then asked, "Who's this April? I like that name," He said, and I was immediately filled with anger and courage to even outmatch the legend's intimidation-skills.

"Look, _Grif_," I said, making sure to add emphasis to his new nickname, "I don't give a damn who you are, you're not gonna go and treat April like you do the other whores you're legendary for seducing. April's a Jumper like me, and no offense…wait, all offense, seeing as how she wouldn't even give you a second glance."

After making this speech I expected to die, so I closed my eyes, waiting for the pain to come, but Griffin said, "Well, aren't we feisty?"

I opened my eyes to see him looking at me with an extremely amused expression on his face, which, contrary to making me even madder, seemed to seep all the bravery and will outta me.

"Yes w-we are," I said, my voice faltering, until I muttered, "Forget it."

Griffin laughed, clapped me on the back (nearly breaking it) and said, "You know, no one has stood up to me in a while, and I have to say, it feels good to have someone talk back. But," And suddenly he became furious, jump-slamming me into the wall of the little room on the boat, "If you ever do it again, I'll kill you, and you have no fuckin' clue how easy that'll be for me."

(A/N: Firstly, these are rare, as they interrupt the story, so I only do it when I really want to, and secondly, you didn't think that I'd have Griffin become a softie, did ya? He'll always be super-cool and badass to me, not to mention a bit psycho, so don't expect him to open up and stuff this early into his meeting up with Shadow.)

"Now, take me to where you're staying, ah? I need some info on this Davis guy, and I do need a place to stay," He said, grimacing at the blood on his arm, "Seeing as how the Paladins just raided my old hideout."

I wasn't sure what to say, so I just nodded and jumped back to the place we were staying after hesitantly telling him to hold on a sec before following my scar.

When I arrived at the place (as I refer to it as), I was barraged with two hugs in a row, the first from April, the second from Mandy. They both let go quickly, as I was still damp from being in the water, but at least they hugged me in the first place.

Before they could ask any questions, I said, "We have a visitor," and right on cue, Griffin followed my jump scar.

When he arrived, April gasped, same as me, and staggered back. Mandy looked at him with a wondering expression, as non-Jumpers have no clue about the legendary Griffin, and the star himself merely looked around, snorted, and started jumping back and forth from some unknown place with furniture and such.

I had to practically catch April as she almost fell back, still trying to recover from shock. Mandy was starting to get that Griffin was seriously famous among us, and started to look at him with a rather wanting look in her eye.

"You…brought…_Griffin_!" She exclaimed in shock and awe.

"Yeah, I know. He's anti-Paladin and Davis along with us, and he needed a place to crash, so…"

"Can we help him? Will he help us? Do you think he thinks we're worthy? Oh, he's cute, I noticed that now. And…wait, is he just here to have a hideout?"

I decided to answer all those questions with a "Yes," and then walk over to the exalted man, who was now jumping around, putting this chair that and that table there and such.

"Hey, Griffin," I said, causing him to stop and glare at me.

"What?"

"We were wondering if you'd help us out—"

"With?"

"Er, I was getting to tha—"

"Get to the point!"

"WILL YOU HELP US WITH HUNTING THE PALADINS, SEEING AS HOW ONE OF THEM IN MY MOM WHO HAS BEEN RELENTLESSLY HUNTING _ME _FOR ALL OF MY LIFE!"

This guy was really…damn. He just got on my nerves, but as I was about to find out, you don't stand up to a loose cannon like him.

"You just stood up to me again," He said with a mixture of awe and joy, and I saw a hint of eagerness behind his eyes. Fear struck a deep chord in me, and I even began to shake, though it wasn't noticeably.

"Do you realize what that means? I get to teach you what happens when you stand up to Griffin twice in a row!" And he jump-punched me. Where? Well, let's just say I would have been happier if it was hell.

--

A/N: I feel like I'm rising out of a pit of suckiness, I have to say. Especially now that Griffin is in the story. This will be fun! Read, relax, review! Oh, and don't worry, the next story will be out…soon!

Oh, and I would have it continued, but I'm getting kicked off, so you'll have to wait for next chapter!

I Love You All (Except For The Guys, I Just Think You're Cool),

ConstantWriter


	6. Paladin HQ

Disclaimer: I have no ownership or rights over anything related to Jumper unless it is my original creation.

A/N: I am now going to bring the concept of "Sensitives" into the story. While I haven't personally read the Jumper books (though I'm desperate to find a copy of the first), I have learned of certain Paladins who can sense when a Jumper, well, jumps. Hope you like it.

--

After I slammed onto the ground, I looked up to see Griffin sneering at me.

"Let's see how ya like it here!" And he jumped before I could even react.

I looked around. I was in a metal hallway, and when I say metal, I mean, like, _metal. _The whole place was made out of something silver, shiny, and metallic.

_Where did the bastard drop me off? _I thought, but it didn't take long for me to figure it out…especially when a few Paladins walked into the hall from a corner, laughing and chatting until they saw me.

I unleashed a million mental swears right then, along with the realization that Griffin had done the ultimate in low blow to me; he had dropped me off in the Paladin headquarters.

Now, this would've been fine had Griffin dropped me off in front of a load of Paladins, or even my mom, but he knew…he knew that this was a once in a lifetime opportunity to _check out the headquarters. _Yeah, I could do this another time, but not without risking being in the vicinity of only a billion Paladins.

Split-second decision time…

Risk won out. As two Paladins took out their shockers, the other two pulling out electric batons, I shift-punched one of them; the others were able to get out of the way, unfortunately.

It was indeed difficult to think while dodging two electric batons and a shocker, but I was able to get one thing through: _if I wanna get out of this alive, I need a plan._

Especially if I didn't want to run into Paladins every few seconds.

I jumped again, and again, and again, until I finally got behind one of the Paladins and was able to shove-trip him over, knocking him out. His weapon went flying, and I caught it in mid-air.

"Whoa!" Just _holding _the weapon sent energy tingling through me, and it unnerved me. This thing killed tons of people like me just for being alive with this power, and…wow.

My mind was kinda in slow-mo, but my body took up the job. I automatically blocked and parried all of the Paladin's moves, our batons clashing. It was so…odd. It was as though with the baton, I could fight without having to think. It was great.

WHACK! I finally got the Paladin on the side of the leg, and as he keeled over in pain, my arm lifted the baton and slammed him on the head with it. Even without the electricity, he probably would've gotten a concussion, I hit him so hard, but with the voltage, he was surely dead.

He fell on the floor harshly, leaving the last Paladin to look at me with a mixture of shock and fear. It took a few seconds, but he was smart enough to run away.

I didn't follow him…I was too much in shock. It was so hard to think, though…my brain was moving so sluggishly, and my body was about to stab the other two bodies…

_NO! _I threw the baton down, and after a few seconds, things rapidly got better. My brain started functioning at normal capacity, and I had control over my body.

It was then that I realized that I wasn't gripping the rubber handle of the baton, as the rest of the Paladins had been. But…what it did to me, this needed to be investigated. I grabbed the baton—by the handle—and considered jumping back to the hideout, but denied it. I was here for a reason, and I had to take advantage, even if it started out against me.

"If I get outta here, Griffin and I are gonna have a little chat," I muttered to myself as I crept around the corner, keeping the baton with me for self-defense. I saw a good 6 Paladins, just standing and talking there. I quickly scanned the room, and was about to jump until I noticed a Paladin looking rather uneasy.

I mentally groaned. I had heard of Sensitives, but of all times, _now_? Good grief, it was impossible to get a break here.

But I also realized that I had a chance. I had heard rumors that the closer a Jumper was when he jumped, the more pain a Sensitive felt. I was feet away from them, so if I jumped to the other end of the hallway and was quick enough, I'd be hidden, and he'd be in too much pain to explain what was going on…

And I jumped.

Point-of-View Change: April

I was scared. Really, really scared. Griffin was being completely quiet about where Robert was, and Mandy was still asking questions like crazy, which was really annoying me.

"Where's Rob?"

"Do you think he's okay?"

"What do you think happened to him?"

When I irritably mentioned that she was practically obsessed with him (even though I was scared out of my mind for him) she only said, "So what? It's not my fault that I'm a caring person."

I swear, I'm going to rip out this girl's head off if she doesn't stop.

Point-of-View Change: Amanda (a.k.a. Mandy)

Why does that April girl have to be so mean? Really, she only snaps at my comments. I can't help it that I think that Robbie is cute! And as for Griffin, wow, he's a hottie! But to be honest, he kinda scares me. I don't know what to do! Help!

Point-of-View Change: Robert (a.k.a. Shadow)

I heard the guy's scream before I even had a chance to blink. It was loud, really loud, and to rub a little salt on the wound, he was in my direction. I leaped out of the way, but to no avail; not only had the Paladins seen me, but some coming from the other direction ran towards me, while others unleashed the fury of their shockers.

_Damn it, I'm screwed! What do I do, what do I—oh, that shocker almost hit me! First, take care of the Paladins, then go from there. Got it._

However, it wasn't as easy as I thought. When you have a grand total of 15 Paladins on you and the only defense you have is an electric baton and the ability to teleport, which they specialize in neutralizing, what you try to do is never as easy as you think. To say the least, I was so fu—

WHAM! I grunted with effort as I batted away a shocker "bullet", right after knocking two others away. All the while the 5 or so Paladins with batons in their hands slowly advanced, cautious of my swings.

"I'm…going…to get…the info…on this place whether you…like it…or not!" Every word of mine was accompanied by knocking away yet another shocker bullet. These things were tough to get rid of, and those guys reloaded fast, not to mention the Paladins with the batons, trying to attack me.

I decided to bring jumping into the equation, and started going around the room like crazy, causing two of the Paladins, one baton-wielder and one shocker-shooter to collapse and writhe on the floor in pain.

My massive amount of jumping was due to the fact that I was randomly going behind the shooters, shocking them in the leg or back. For once, I made sure that my hits weren't too bad.

I won't lie, I was jumping much faster than usual due to the fact that I was half doing it out of rage. Seriously, these guys were pissing me off really badly.

"And…gotcha!" I hit the last shooter in the back, and he collapsed, unconscious. All that was left to take care of were 4 baton-wielders. They got into a circle, raising their batons, though the fear was clear on their faces.

I cracked my neck, braced myself, and shift-stabbed the first one in the leg.

"AAAAAAHHHH!" He bellowed in pain as electricity coursed though him, and I snatched his baton from him before jumping back a few yards. "Anyone else want some?" I asked sneeringly to the other Paladins, who now looked seriously afraid.

"Grr…aaah!" The guy pulled the whole thing out of his leg, which was seriously tough, seeing as how it was halfway embedded in there. But apparently the strain must've been too much, for he fell on the spot, dead or unconscious.

A few seconds passed, seeming like hours, until one of the Paladins ran away, another charged at me, and the last pulled out his shocker. _Now we're talking, _I thought, _some good old ass-kicking time._

And good it was. The guy who charged me was pathetic. He thrusted the baton at me, trying to stab me. I easily dodge the maneuver, and as the man stumbled and nearly fell, I completed tripping him and stabbing his foot with my own weapon, stealing his immediately afterwards.

But I had gone overboard, and let the anger get in my way; I completely forgot about the shooter, and now I was gonna pay the price.

A blinding amount of pain, I pulled out the "bullet" and almost fell over, but I withheld…I picked up the baton, and right before getting hit by another bullet I threw the baton, and I can at least say I saw it hit its mark before I passed out.

--

A/N: I beg you all not to blame me for leaving it at a cliffhanger, I want to continue as much as you do, really! But I can't, for the best trait of a good storyteller (though this is debatable) is leaving his readers wanting more. Hope you all come back to read some more anyways.

A/N: Also, just know that if you're a bit confused as to how the story is being told, I kinda do it from a point-of-view as though they were all writing in a journal. That actually _is _true for everyone but Shadow and probably Griffin, though I haven't decided on him. Sorry about now including a POV (point-of-view) from him this chapter, but he's a wild card…it will take some time to get his done.

A/N: Last note…hope you like the action, aye?

Your Humble Writer,

ConstantWriter


	7. The Head Paladin

Disclaimer: I have no ownership or rights over anything related to Jumper unless it is my original creation.

A/N: I will include a quote related to the chapter's events from now on, mainly to see if you can see my POV. Hope you don't hate the idea too much.

"Holding on to anger is like grasping a hot coal with the intent of throwing it at someone else; you are the one who gets burned."—Buddha

--

"So, you know where Griffin is, right?"

I awoke to hear a man's voice talking to me coolly. _Where am I? _I thought. _What happened after…that?_

Apparently the man was a mind reader as well as a Paladin. "Look, kid, you get points for guts, but a Jumper doesn't just bust in here somehow, beat the hell outta a good 20 or so Paladins and not expect to get captured, am I right?"

"Just kill me now!" I spat at him furiously. I was full of self-loathing right now, not to mention hatred for this guy. But mostly I just couldn't believe how stupid I was. What was I thinking? That I could really get into a building full of Paladins and somehow sneak my way in to get information on them? Jeez, I was stupid!

"Kill you? Why would we do that? Not only do you have valuable information on the legendary Griffin, including his whereabouts, but your mom is waiting for you to tell us so she can do the honors afterwards."

Whoa. If my dear old ma is personally waiting to do the execution, then she really _is _the definition of twisted.

"Why don't you let my mom and I handle this ourselves, ah? It'll save you quite a bit of trouble." I sneered at him, trying to get out of my wires without jumping (it was obvious and logical to assume that the wires had electricity in them, otherwise I would've jumped first chance I had).

"Don't worry, we will. Your mom said she wants a fair fight between you, not you just there like a stuck pig. All we need is to know where Griffin is hiding…"

To which I replied, "Look, I don't care about Griffin, alright? He dropped me off here in the first place, leaving me to die, so I'd gladly tell you where he is, only it endangers my friends, who I'm never gonna tell you where they are."

The guy looked thoughtful for a second, and then said slowly, "I have an idea, but hold on a sec. I'll be right back."

He left the little room we were in, locking the door from the outside. It wasn't like I could do anything, tied to the chair which was bolted to the floor.

He came back a couple of minutes later, holding what looked like an ankle bracelet. "Look," He said, starting to put it on me, "I'm giving you one shot, something I'd never do to another Jumper. Only because your mom is a head Paladin, I'm putting one of our experimental jump-bracelets on you. It allows _us_ to allow _you_ a certain number of jumps before you get shocked very badly if you try to again."

I took this in angrily, feeling like a framed victim with the criminal putting the ankle bracelet on.

"You get two jumps, kid—one to wherever Griffin is and one back—and trying to escape would work. Yeah, you heard me right, escape would work. You can jump anywhere, but removing this bracelet is gonna be a bit of a problem."

Now I was furious at my sudden trapped freedom. If I got out of this wire…

"Okay, now I'm-a let you out of the wire, then you jump to where Griffin is, get him, and then jump back. Do that and we'll take off the bracelet and let you free."

"Yeah right," I said rudely, but the man shook his head.

"Why would we want anything to do with you if we have Griffin? We'll be spending too much time interrogating that guy for any Jumpers for quite a while."

I pondered these words, and the thought of Griffin only increased my recklessness.

"I'll do it." And I was gone.

Point-of-View Change: Griffin

I have to give that son-of-a-bitch Shadow some credit. He actually made it back. Maybe he's learned his lesson now, the twit, and maybe he'll stop harping about whatever problems I don't give a damn about.

But when he touches me, that's the last straw. When he jumps me and him somewhere without my permission, he crosses the line and spits on the ground.

When I see Roland standing in front of Shadow, unlocking some ankle-bracelet thing, I figure it all out.

Point-of-View Change: Shadow

"I knew I should've told you to fuck off right away." I heard Griffin say as the guy removed my ankle bracelet, as promised.

"Yeah, well, we all should've done things we never did." I shot back, rubbing my wrists instinctively even though it was an ankle bracelet.

"Alright, kid, now get the hell outta here." The guy said, looking at me with no emotion.

I nodded, and jumped.

But back to April and Mandy? No.

Behind the guy, lashing at him with my previously hidden baton? You bet your ass I did.

But the one thing that _didn't _go according to plan was the guy spinning around with his own baton, causing ours to hit with such force that the electricity blew us back onto opposite walls of the room…hard.

I cried out in pain, and after struggling for a few seconds, managed to stagger to my feet. The guy was out cold, and Griffin was struggling to get out of the wires that held him down to the chair.

"Your welcome, a-hole." Griffin ignored my comment, continuing furiously to break free. I sighed and slashed down with the baton, cutting all the wires in half. Griffin threw them off, stood up, brushed off the dust and dirt from his jacket, and jump-tackled me.

"What…stop…why are you…stop hitting me!" I shouted, doing my best to block Griffin's flurry of punches. All I knew was that I was never going to help Griffin again; what I didn't know was where we were, why he was attacking me, and how to get out of the situation.

Finally, I got an advantage. Griffin's paused for a second to catch his breath, and I punched him in the nose with all my force. He rolled away from me, hopping back up, unfazed, but by then I was already gone.

"Freakin' psycho, that's what he is," I muttered as April cleaned one of the many cuts and abrasions on my face.

"You know he's gonna be back, right?" She said to me witheringly, and I couldn't blame her. Griffin deserved his legendary title, but that didn't mean he deserved to be treated well. He was a complete jerk, and now we had to deal with him.

"Hey, don't get on my case; I just had to deal with around 20 Paladins, okay? That wasn't easy for me, and anyways, I brought back a little something." I said, pulling out the baton from my coat pocket. April's eyes narrowed and she asked in a deadly quiet voice, "Why is _that _here?"

I said hesitantly, "Look…just hold the baton from any part that isn't the rubber handle, and you'll see."

Glaring at me, she did, but as soon as she did, all emotion left her face. She mumbled, "Whoa…what's going…on…" while I examined her face.

She was void of any emotion, like a robot. It creeped me out, for sure. But what really got me was when she slashed the baton at me, but, like, in slow-mo. It was weird, to say the least.

Oh, but it didn't stop there. April did it again, but this time without the slowness. She slashed at me quickly, without hesitation, too. I barely had time to keep from being mutilated before she attacked again, and again.

"What the hell is wrong with you, April?" I shouted, trying not to die. I jumped behind her, and bear hugged her to keep her from, like, killing me, you know? I expected her to jump, but she didn't, she merely struggled in vain.

I quickly snatched the baton away from her, and as she got better, I got worse. I vaguely heard her say, "Shadow, I'm sorry, I couldn't control myself! It was like…like…" and then it was _me _who lost control. My arm swung at April, and I saw her jump back, looking scared.

My mind was trying to tell my body _STOP! _But when you're body is working at twice its normal capacity and your brain is working at half its capacity, it isn't exactly easy to stop yourself.

"Can't…stop…" I muttered, though it was barely audible.

"I know, Shadow, but please, try!"

And I did, but to no avail. The best I could do was hesitate before attacking, and sometimes slowing down my attacks enough so that what would've been a fatal blow to April was a missed attack.

But finally, the moment came when a good friend of mine would intervene…

Point-of-View Change: Griffin

_What the bloody hell is happening? _That's all I could think when I saw Shadow attacking April. I don't love the girl or anything, but when that moron attacks another Jumper, that's it. I'm not going to drop him off somewhere that he might die; I'm going to kill him myself.

That's the plan until I see he's holding one of those fancy shocker-sticks. Now I'm a bit more careful about stopping him. But then I see his face. What the…there's fear on his face, hesitation. So why is he attacking her?

This stops now!

As I tackle him, the stick goes flying into the air and lands on the ground feet away. I hold the idiot down, assuming he'll try to get it, but after a few seconds he just lays there.

"Thank you," I hear him mutter, and then he shouts, "Get off of me, Griffin!" My eyes narrow and I make sure to give him a good punch in the ribs before leaping up and jumping to get more furniture.

Point-of-View Change: Shadow

Oh, I have to give it to Griffin, he can punch. Like, hard.

While I was standing up, massaging my bruised ribs, April looks at my warily. "Oh, give me a break!" I say irritably, glaring at the baton. "I didn't attack you out of free will, so get off of my case! And you don't have to say anything!" I responded to her unsaid argument.

I jumped to my "room", or what was now designated there, and almost shriek like a girl when I see Mandy there, having completely girl-ified it.

"What the…no! It's…but…_pink_?! The walls are pink!"

"I know," Mandy said matter-of-factly, "Because I painted them like that. Magical, isn't it?"

I had to hold down a gag at how sickly sweet the colors were. Pinks and purples adorned the place, and I wasn't sure how to react. Yeah, I was angry, but I was more dumbfounded than anything else.

"Um…you know what? Enjoy your new room, I'll find somewhere else to stay." I muttered, trying to think of a place to sleep tonight.

"Oh, no, this is still your room," She giggled, "I just redecorated it for you."

My eyes widened, and I barely got out, "This is…my room?"

"Yep, and it's pretty now too!"

"Oh, _hell _no."

"Oh, _hell _yes! You're welcome!" And she left the room, still holding back laughs.

At first, I could only sit down, and stare at the room with my jaw wide open. But slowly, I began to grin and ended up muttering, "Amanda, I owe you one."

Point-of-View Change: Roland

Well, the kid is good. He was able to knock out me, the infamous Roland. Not only that, but he managed to get away with Griffin. Whew, boy, he's gonna pay for that.

But he's not the only one.

In a building full of Paladins, not one bothered to check on the situation when they heard that extremely loud THUMP of me and him slamming against the walls? I'm sure that's what happened.

Don't worry, they'll all get their share of pain, but my focus right now is the kid…Shadow, as his mother told me. Robbie Shadow. Hmm…that seems like a good name to call out before I kill him. _"Goodbye, Robert Shadow!" _

Won't this be fun.

--

A/N: Bringing Roland into the story may or may not be a good idea, but I'm working on it. Let's hope it turns out better than I hope.

A/N: Okay, I just wanted you all to know that productivity on Betrayal is going to be slowed down a bit because I want to continue working on my other story, and I want to make some new ones. Sorry, but you have a right to know.

A/N: Hope you liked seeing things from Roland's POV!

(Insert Cool End Phrase Here),

ConstantWriter


	8. A Hostage Situation

Disclaimer: I have no ownership or rights over anything related to Jumper unless it is my original creation.

A/N: Only one thing to say, as I'm eager to start typing: things will start off from Roland's POV, that's it. Enjoy the story.

--

Man, the Paladins I have working for me are idiots.

Not a single damn one of them knows _anything _useful about that punk who knocked me out. Do I have to do everything myself?

And now one of them is coming in the room, handing me a file on him. So, it seems they _do_ have a file on the kid…and now I know who's important to him.

I take a look at it:

Name: Robertsen Shadow

Age: 15 (?)

Sex: Male

Grade: 10th (?)

Immediate Family: Mother (Lisa Herring, Paladin), Father (Thomas Shadow, deceased)

Extended Family: (All names unknown) Grandfather, Grandmother, 4 Aunts, 2 Uncles, 2 Cousins

Friends: Michael Stephenson, Matthew Johnson, Keefe Bergson, David Atman, Jimmy Johnson (no relation to Matthew)

Other Notes: He seems to have an unusually friend-like teacher/student relationship with his Spanish teacher, Jim Oviatt. Good test subject if you want to see how far the kid will go to protect someone he's (sort of) friends with.

Comments: If you do catch this guy, you might wanna be careful; the guys worship the teacher and the girls swoon at the sight of him, no matter what age. That said, it's obvious that he'll be kinda hard to kidnap. Be subtle and careful.

Thomas Oviatt, huh? Looks like the fun is already about to begin.

Point-Of-View Change: Shadow

I yawned and got out of the bed Griffin brought, wondering who'd be calling at 1:00 in the morning.

Hearing Griffin shout, "Will someone get the damn phone?" followed by angry agreements from April and Mandy (each in their separate rooms, respectively) got me to rush to it, picking it up and irritably answering "What do you want?"

"Hello, Robert."

I froze, recognizing the voice immediately. "I have to say, that little stunt you pulled got me off guard. You actually managed to save Griffin! The honor is mine, talking to such a hot-shot. But…like all things good, there has to be a bad."

My eyes widened as Roland said, "So, Mr. Oviatt gladly volunteered to visit our place, and now we have him." And suddenly his voice became cold, cruel, heartless.

"We want Griffin dead. Whether you do the honors or bring him to us to take care of it, we don't care; just bring him—or his corpse for proof—to our base. You can refuse, but then…" And I almost jumped on the spot when I heard the obvious sounds of Mr. Oviatt grunting as someone punched him.

"If you do anything to hurt Mr. O, I'll—" but the phone hung up.

Conflict tore at me, giving me an impossible decision to make. Griffin was a bitter son of a bitch that left me to die, but not only was he a fellow Jumper, his reputation did _not _precede him when it came to kicking Paladin ass. He was the best weapon the Jumpers had against Paladins…

But Mr. Oviatt was my teacher! Under normal circumstances I would've been in a rough situation, but it was made worse by the fact that Mr. O was a good teacher, a friend to every person in class.

And then there was how time had affected my decision. I hadn't been to school in months, and I had been a Spanish learning student for even less time. But to let my teacher suffer…argh! This was killing me!

"Shadow?" April lightly touched my arm, and I jumped in the air, shocked out of my thoughts. "What's wrong? You're super wound-up, and all sweaty and pale." While I appreciated her concerned look, this wasn't something I wanted to bother her with.

"I'm…well, I'm not fine, but it's no big deal." I walked back to my room, closed and locked the door, and lay down on my bed.

I muttered to myself, "My teacher or another Jumper? Not exactly the best of options, but it's hard to choose who to let freakin' die and not die nonetheless."

It took some time, and a lot of inner torment, but I finally made my choice at 6:50 in the morning.

Point-Of-View Change: Roland

At precisely 7:00 a.m. I get a phone call from Robert, whom everyone is now referring to as "The Kid" because he accomplished the impossible task of not only hitting me, but knocking me out.

As if I don't hear these people talking behind my back.

"I'm not meeting you at your base, and I don't give a damn what you say." The Kid says, and I can tell that he means it.

"Where?"

"Above it."

"And you know where the location of the ground the base is located under…how, exactly?"

It's asked as a rhetorical question, and he knows it, which doesn't make it any less pleasurable to hear, "You know that Paladin you saw that had a kinda nervous look on his face, a sorta scared look?"

"What about him?"

"Guess who."

I know he expects me to be caught off guard, and I am, but he doesn't have to know that. "I'll see you there in 10 minutes." I say smoothly, and hang up. This brat is worth way less than the trouble we're making for him, so in a split-second I decide to accompany the two Paladins to make sure he does indeed get killed without anymore trouble.

I just hope that he'll put up a fight.

Point-Of-View Change: Shadow

Okay, even _I'm _stunned that I got away with disguising as a Paladin, getting past friggin' Roland, getting into the elevator and memorizing where it is above ground (some sort of barren wasteland looking place) without getting caught and killed, and all in ten minutes tops.

But hey, I'm that good.

I grab the electric baton and hide it up my sleeve, just waiting to either fling it at a Paladin or take it out and use it in a sword-like fashion. I also grab the ISC (Imitator-Short-Circuter, the device that neutralizes any artificial machines used by Paladins to jump) and a few shock grenades. (A/N: For a minor briefing on all this stuff, check chapter two again.)

At the last second I even decide to take a knife, and I hide it up my other sleeve, with the grenades in one pocket and the ISC in the other.

Now I'm ready.

And I jump.

As soon as I land, I see Roland standing there with two of his cronies, one of them holding Mr. Oviatt in a chokehold even though my former teacher (I still consider him my teacher, though) wasn't resisting at all.

"Let him go!" I command, and to my surprise, they actually obey my furious order. He gasps for air for a moment before looking up in shock and asking, "Robert…what are you doing here? And what does all of this have to do with you?"

I reply with a hasty "I'll explain later," before I let my knife slide to my hand and grasp it, doing the same with the baton. "Now we finish this."

Roland chuckles and says, "Yeah, sure. Take out these Paladins and then we'll see who's stronger, you or me?" and in a mere flick of his wrist, an electric baton comes out of his sleeve too. "You're not the only one who's prepared, Shadow."

I'm unnerved that he knows my last name as well as my first, but I don't let it show. "Let's see what you got." I tell them with cockiness in my voice, and they charge.

The first stops after taking out his shocker and fires it at me. I bat away the bullet with the baton (remember, these are shocker bullets here) and dodge the stab of the other Paladin's baton.

It becomes a baton fight with both of us having to get up every time the sharp and electric points make contact, as the knockback sends us flying. But after a while I get the hang of fighting while dodging bullets, and soon I get the guy to try and stab me. I punch him in the face and take his baton, wielding two in one hand and the knife in the other.

He looks helpless for a moment while backing up before taking out his shocker and firing as well.

The guy who originally started firing switched spots with his pal, taking out his baton and slashing at me. I easily dodge both the bullet and the baton, starting to _really _get a high opinion of myself and my skills. This is only emphasized when the guy tries a sort of uppercut-stab with his baton and lets me punch him in the ribs. He doubles over instinctively, and I knee him in the face. He backs up, his nose bleeding, and staggers sideways…right into the path of the next bullet.

Luckily for him, he's wearing some sort of armor underneath, so he doesn't get shocked and the bullet doesn't actually go through him as it would if he didn't have the armor, but the force of the shot still sends him flying forwards. I sidestep him and he collapses on the ground, unconscious.

But I've learned from my mistake at the Paladin base. Instead of looking at him, proud of myself, I'm busy dodging and batting away bullets. I'm slowly progressing, getting closer and closer to the second Paladin until I'm only a few yards away.

The guy quickly realizes that this isn't working, and changes tack, choosing to start playing dirty. He holds the shocker to Mr. Oviatt's head, causing me to freeze in my tracks. "Ha," he sneers, smiling, "Not so tough now, are ya? If you take another step, you can just—" but his grin is quickly turned into a look of shock as he sees the baton starting to poke out of his chest, and he falls down…dead.

Roland is standing behind him, pulling out the baton that he slammed right through the guy's heart, and he's wearing a little smile. "Don't worry, Shadow," he says in a voice tinged with cruelty, "I wouldn't let one of my Paladins do something like that. A deal's a deal, and I'll respect that. Only problem is, you didn't hold up to that, now did you?" And he looks around expectantly. "Nope, I don't see Griffin anywhere, but I'd like to kill your teacher myself, which is why I…eliminated that Paladin."

I'm stunned that Roland can so easily murder someone without a second thought…it sickens me. But the worst of it is that if he can stab someone in a snap without any hesitation, any doubt, then he certainly won't be bluffing if he threatens to kill my teacher.

Thinking fast, I throw my knife at him, hoping he'll dodge it. He takes the bait and sidesteps out of the path of the knife, and into the path of my fist. My shift-jump sends him flying backwards, but amazingly he lands on his feet.

At least by then I jumped Mr. O back to my hideout and told April to "take care of him" before jumping back to find that Roland is a bit disoriented, and shaking away the last of it now.

"Fine then," He says in a deadly quiet tone, "We'll play it like that."

I gulp.

He grins.

And the _real _fight…begins.

--

A/N: Okay, a few things. Firstly, the names here are the real names of my friends, with the last names adjusted to make sure no one steals their identity or whatnot. Secondly, if you're wondering what font styles I used for Shadow's file, I used Arial font (there's a subtle difference) and for the comments/side notes I used Bradley Hand ITC. Just in case you wanted to know. Also, I'm going to be having things from first-person from Shadow's POV too, mostly because I kept accidentally reverting to that and finally gave up.

Oh, and for those of you silently complaining that Roland is way too weak, don't worry—he gets a lot stronger in the next chapter (which will start off with action and likely end with action).

I'm Running Out Of Original End Phrases,

ConstantWriter


End file.
